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1 – 7 of 7Haijuan Yang, Gail Krantzberg, Xiaohuan Dong and Xiwu Hu
This study aims to examine the impact of migration growth on environmental outcomes and local governance and assess how well the existing local municipal governance has responded…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of migration growth on environmental outcomes and local governance and assess how well the existing local municipal governance has responded to the environmental impact of increased migration influx in Ontario, Canada using the annual data during 2012–2021.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the grey relational analysis (GRA) to examine the correlation degree between migrant growth, environmental outcomes and local governance, used coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) to access to what extent the existing local governance systems have responded to the environmental impact of immigrant growth.
Findings
Results show that higher immigrant populations are associated with worse environmental outcomes and the need for more municipal environmental investment and service. The present local municipal environmental service in Ontario lags behind in response to the environmental impacts of increased migration. Good local governance practices and environmental services are required to improve the environmental adaptation capacity of host countries to migrant influx.
Originality/value
Climate change has been regarded as an important driver of internal and international human migration. The mass influxes of migrants will threaten cities’ environmental quality and put considerable pressure on municipal services. This study provides empirical evidence for Ontario’s municipal environmental governance and relevant authorities on how to deal with the environmental impact of increased migration and contributes to call the attention of other countries to the urban environmental pressure caused by migration influx due to the changing climate world wide.
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This paper aims to examine the strategy, selection and perception of facility management (FM) services and the effect it may have on perceived building quality.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the strategy, selection and perception of facility management (FM) services and the effect it may have on perceived building quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through a survey distributed to board members of cooperatives for newly constructed buildings in Sweden. Responses from 394 cooperative boards were included in the data set and analysed. The difference in cooperative choice of FM strategy and satisfaction with FM services was examined with non-parametrical Kruskal–Wallis tests and the effect of FM strategy and satisfaction with FM services on perceived building quality was examined with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test.
Findings
The results suggest information asymmetry and indicate urgent need for an objective accreditation system for FM services, which will inform and assist housing owners in the FM selection process. The study validates the hypothesis that facilities management strategies applied by housing cooperatives have a significant effect on perception of building quality.
Practical implications
The findings will assist developers, facility and property managers to understand the needs and services valued by the housing cooperative. The findings highlight the information asymmetry, restricted techniques and weak signalling methods among FM services, and advocates promoting an objective accreditation system for FM services.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the discussion on the concept of building quality and the results presented provide a better understanding of facilities management strategy on perception of building quality.
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Samuli Laato, Miika Tiainen, A.K.M. Najmul Islam and Matti Mäntymäki
Inscrutable machine learning (ML) models are part of increasingly many information systems. Understanding how these models behave, and what their output is based on, is a…
Abstract
Purpose
Inscrutable machine learning (ML) models are part of increasingly many information systems. Understanding how these models behave, and what their output is based on, is a challenge for developers let alone non-technical end users.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigate how AI systems and their decisions ought to be explained for end users through a systematic literature review.
Findings
The authors’ synthesis of the literature suggests that AI system communication for end users has five high-level goals: (1) understandability, (2) trustworthiness, (3) transparency, (4) controllability and (5) fairness. The authors identified several design recommendations, such as offering personalized and on-demand explanations and focusing on the explainability of key functionalities instead of aiming to explain the whole system. There exists multiple trade-offs in AI system explanations, and there is no single best solution that fits all cases.
Research limitations/implications
Based on the synthesis, the authors provide a design framework for explaining AI systems to end users. The study contributes to the work on AI governance by suggesting guidelines on how to make AI systems more understandable, fair, trustworthy, controllable and transparent.
Originality/value
This literature review brings together the literature on AI system communication and explainable AI (XAI) for end users. Building on previous academic literature on the topic, it provides synthesized insights, design recommendations and future research agenda.
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Elena Barbierato, Iacopo Bernetti and Irene Capecchi
Wine packaged tours as a specific aspect of wine tourism have so far been neglected in research, for this reason, the purpose of this study is to study the key elements for the…
Abstract
Purpose
Wine packaged tours as a specific aspect of wine tourism have so far been neglected in research, for this reason, the purpose of this study is to study the key elements for the success of the wine tour in Tuscany (Italy), evaluating the points of strength and weakness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study combines approaches of text mining, sentiment analysis and natural language processing, drawing on data from the TripAdvisor platform, obtaining through an automatic procedure 9,616 reviews from 600 tours in the years 2010–2020.
Findings
The authors identified six elements of successful wine tours expressed by research subjects: tour guide; logistical aspects; the quality of the wine; the quality of the food; complementary tourist and recreational activities; the landscape and historic villages. The key strength associated with success was the integration of the leading wine product with food, landscape and historic villages, while the main criticisms were concerned with the organization and planning of the tour. Furthermore, the tour guide also plays a fundamental role in consumer satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of the method were linked to the origin of the data used. The main one is that TripAdvisor does not allow you to have social and personal information about the tourist who wrote the review; therefore, the methods are substantially complementary to the traditional survey through questionnaires.
Practical implications
The proposed model can be used both by professionals to improve the quality of their products and by policymakers to promote the territorial development of quality wine-growing areas.
Social implications
The proposed model can be useful for policymakers to promote the territorial development of quality wine-growing areas.
Originality/value
The methodology we tested is easily transferable to many countries and to the authors’ knowledge, for the first time attempts to combine multidimensional scaling, sentiment analysis and natural language processing approaches.
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Gender bias in artificial intelligence (AI) should be solved as a priority before AI algorithms become ubiquitous, perpetuating and accentuating the bias. While the problem has…
Abstract
Purpose
Gender bias in artificial intelligence (AI) should be solved as a priority before AI algorithms become ubiquitous, perpetuating and accentuating the bias. While the problem has been identified as an established research and policy agenda, a cohesive review of existing research specifically addressing gender bias from a socio-technical viewpoint is lacking. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the social causes and consequences of, and proposed solutions to, gender bias in AI algorithms.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive systematic review followed established protocols to ensure accurate and verifiable identification of suitable articles. The process revealed 177 articles in the socio-technical framework, with 64 articles selected for in-depth analysis.
Findings
Most previous research has focused on technical rather than social causes, consequences and solutions to AI bias. From a social perspective, gender bias in AI algorithms can be attributed equally to algorithmic design and training datasets. Social consequences are wide-ranging, with amplification of existing bias the most common at 28%. Social solutions were concentrated on algorithmic design, specifically improving diversity in AI development teams (30%), increasing awareness (23%), human-in-the-loop (23%) and integrating ethics into the design process (21%).
Originality/value
This systematic review is the first of its kind to focus on gender bias in AI algorithms from a social perspective within a socio-technical framework. Identification of key causes and consequences of bias and the breakdown of potential solutions provides direction for future research and policy within the growing field of AI ethics.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2021-0452
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